Pages

January 02, 2013

Resolution 2013: Let's Rock It Together Giveaway

I often do, but at the same time I think they're sort of ridiculous. Should I really expect an arbitrary date on the calendar to yield sudden magical results not obtainable other times of the year?

Yet some of us can't help ourselves. The start of a new year seems to provide a motivational a kick in the pants as well as a cheerful, if delusional, sense of renewed willpower and self-discipline.

So all the gyms will be temporarily packed with bewildered newcomers; sales of diet pills and weight-watcher's frozen dinners will spike; there will be additional purchases of bathroom scales and running shoes and promising home fitness gadgets.

Sorry, Time Machine to Send You back to the 70's Not Included

(And perhaps a few people will even buy a cheap exercise book filled with suggestions and silliness and swear words! Not that any particularhumorous fitness ebook comes to mind... even if we do happen to know of one written by an incorrigible search-engine abuser).

Anyway for most people, resolutions and good intentions will fade in a few weeks or days or even a few hours.

But hey, how about this year we do something different?

What if we pick One Damn Thing and focus on it together for an entire month? It doesn't have be a Resolution, either, just any goal or aspiration you'd really like to make some progress on.

I personally could use some accountability and support, anyone else? But the notion of attending an actual support group that requires leaving the house and sitting in uncomfortable chairs and focusing on my goals alongside earnest strangers who may or may not have bad breath or communicable diseases is not as appealing as firing up the ol' laptop. Plus, do they even have support groups for trail mix addicts or meditation slackers or people who are trying to get their second ebook written? Not every personal growth issue is blessed with a convenient infrastructure for face to face meetings.

So here's what I'm thinking, is anyone game?

1. Pick a goal, either public or private, that you want to focus on.

2. Put up with my blathering about a possible tip or approach in a weekly post. You don't actually have to read it.

3. Leave a comment sharing something/anything about your process or progress regarding your goal(s) on each weekly post in January. You can whine or brag or rationalize or ask a question or change your mind and pick a new goal or even admit defeat entirely. Whatever you want. Today it may just be announcing that you have a goal of some sort, whether you want to share what it is or any observations so far... or not! Again, it does not have to be a New Years Resolution, just something you're working on.

4. Leave another comment on each weekly post replying to someone elses comment. You can be supportive in some way, or just let that person know that someone besides Crabby read it and gives a crap. (If the reply option isn't available on your interface, just leave a new comment addressed to the person you want to reply to).

4 1/2. Optional: feel free to get interactive if someone has left you an interesting comment or reply! Just try not to get snippy if their input wasn't helpful; we all come from different perspectives.

5. I'm hoping a few people will hang in there all through January. If so, one person will be selected, and this time NOT on a random basis, to get a free 4-session package of Life Coaching or Wellness Coaching or New Year's Resolution Coaching or whatever the heck sort of personal goal support that you might find helpful. These can happen by phone, skype, or email.

6. And everyone who comments on all posts who is possibly interested in a Life Coaching Package can get 50% off my standard life coaching rates rather than the usual 25% Cranky Fitness Discount.

7. People who think life coaching is a laughable enterprise however cheap or free it might be, or who fear that Crabby may be a Crappy Coach, do NOT need to feel the least bit awkward declining should they win. The real purpose of this thing is to rally our sense of community a bit by supporting each other.

Take My Advice, I'm Not Using It

Just as I can't help making resolutions myself, I also can't help giving advice. My own track record on keeping resolutions is far from perfect. (Colonoscopy? Check! Handstand push-ups? Seriously?) Yet most years I've been blogging I've assembled some sort of list of thoughts or tips. If you came here looking for one and don't mind an additional click or two, I got some thoughts here:

This Week's Pretty Obvious Thought/Tip about Resolution Success

Visualize life a year or two from now if you keep to your goal. Daydream about it... in detail, if possible.

How will life be different? What will you look like, feel like, how will people respond to you differently? And then pick out some reminders--actual pictures or they could be mental images, affirmations, post-it notes, etc that you can come back to frequently.

The more vivid and exciting you can make your goal, and the more you remind yourself of it, the more you will be able to resist temptations to slack or cheat.

Duh, right? But it's easy to get lazy about this and think that a vague mental order or prohibition to behave better will be all you need. For most of us, it ain't.

What's My New Year's Resolution?

Yeah, I'm going to play too. That way if no one else does, I can win and give myself some free life coaching!

I have a few goals, some new and some ongoing, but I'm going to focus on just one for now. To find out what it is, please join me in the comments!

I'm another one who struggles with meditation - whenever I do it I'm glad I did, but then I never feel like doing it again!

So how does self-hypnosis differ from meditation exactly? To my untutored eye they seem two sides of the same coin, but I guess there's a good reason you think one will be easier to maintain than the other?

From what I understand, hypnosis and meditation are technically different, and in fact, a lot of the meditation proponents look down on hypnosis. But screw it! I have more patience with hypnosis and enjoy a trance state when I can find a good way in, especially when guided with an audio. Whereas most mediation instructions leave me fidgety and restless and distracted by my own thoughts.

My impression is that meditation tends to involve a more simple focus and does not as much visualization; also, most hypnosis tends to involve suspending critical thinking and accepting suggestions. Whereas most meditation requires more vigilance in not getting caught up in thoughts and learning to let go of them. However, there are a lot of "mediation" resources that are really guided self-hypnosis but meditation just sounds cooler. And I could be wrong on all this, I need to do a lot more research.

But one thing both have in common for me is that the guided versions are easier than the kind that are entirely self-driven; yet I think some of the brain-rewiring aspects come from the ability to direct your own mind and focus your own awareness without listening to someone helping you. Plus I have to keep finding new sources because the old ones get boring.

Anyway, if any of the auto-suggestions actually end up helping me with other goals: Bonus!!!

"I just couldn't put down meditation as a resolution for one more goddamn year after abandoning it so many times!" LOL. Yes, I didn't even bother with goals such as calmness, happiness, contentment, etc.

As a former hypnotherapist, one of my teachers used to say that self hypnosis is meditation with a purpose. Guided self hypnosis is great - and even better if you can create meaningful suggestions for yourself and record them in your own voice. Often that sticks better because it's the voice you hear in your head( and not always in a positive way)all the time anyway! Good luck with it! Spaz

Spaz, thank you so much, that's an intriguing idea! I actually used to do a bit of hypnosis with psychotherapy clients, but it was long ago. However, I enjoyed writing scripts and would get kinda trancey putting them together. It's funny, I sort of assumed my own voice would be less effective, as I might discount it or feel self conscious, but I never thought about it replicating my internal inner voice.

So glad you've joined us here in the comments and sure hope you stick around!

Self-hypnosis? Sounds fascinating! I can't wait to hear how it goes. I also have a hard time with meditation. I tend to just start obsessing over all the other ("more productive") things I should be doing. I'm also in the not-particularly-suggestible category. Consider me right behind you cheering you on and anxiously awaiting your reviews of hte materials you choose!

We did a 15 min moving meditation in Yoga tonight Crabby and I instantly thought of you. Maybe Pacing (umm walking mindfully) would help with meditation for you. I have to do guided meditation myself because my mind tends to burst out in song if I try to shut it up for too long.

I actually do a form of meditation walk, and it's definitely more interesting to me than the breathing kind. I tend go outside and try to focus on all the beauty I see, even in 'ugly' stuff. Not sure if it "counts," but I use it to practice redirecting wandering thoughts in a gentle way, though my mind stays pretty active in the myriad ways it decides to appreciate the landscape. Sigh. It's a process!

I don't really do New Year's resolutions, it seems all too often they get used as an excuse to put off making the changes that need to be made... "Oops! Blew that resolution already and it's only the 2nd of January! Oh well - shame I can't have another go until next January 1st!"

But since I'll admit to being life-coaching-curious, I'll play anyway... And I won't even cheat and use something I'm already working on. The goal I'm going to go for, which I think should seriously help pretty much every other area of my life, is to cut down the amount of time I waste on the internet! Seriously, hours of my life slip away in front of the screen, and I really need to cut down. So my mini-goal for the first week is going to be to figure out just HOW MUCH time I waste now, so I can set a meaningful and acheivable goal to aim for...

I'll let you know next week just how bad it is. #8-S

PS I'm aware of the irony that my "cutting down on the internet" goal is now internet-based. You don't need to point that out to me. #;-)

Excellent goal Shadowduck and one that has been/will be on my list as well! Love the idea of starting with tracking.

I bet lots of others of us here have struggled with the same thing and can trade ideas if you run in to trouble. Just as long as we don't get so successful we train ourselves not to visit Cranky Fitness! :)

Hey Shadowduck! Right there with you! My goal is to clean out my Reader feed. Eliminate the blogs I really don't get anything out of anymore. For some reason I always feel like dropping a blog is just cruel. But really, it's just cruel to my free time. I love the idea of tracking too!

I think this is a great idea. I am going to do it. My resolution for january is to write my 2nd ebook. I wrote my first eBook "A Zen Buddhist Guide to Fitness" last month and have the goal of writing 1 small eBook each month for the next year. My goal is to create these books as a gift to clients and readers, but also to get more practice writing. I love writing my blog, but writing eBooks forces me to do things differently. In fact Cranky I'd be will to bet my beard in an eBook challenge to help you write your second eBook, let me know if you're down.

You can go here to get my first eBook by clicking on my name, but I'll put a link at the bottom. Or here to see the beard I'm willing to bet http://www.mindfulfitnessmovement.com/#!beardo/c1qdi

Whew, I don't have a beard so I'm safe on that bet. I'm shooting for March or April for my second ebook, being too slacky for a monthly deadline, and not wishing to inflict more than 2-3 titles a year on readers, but thanks for the offer! I may take you up on some sort of challenge if I find I'm not making progress.

I'm in! I have a new-to-me exercise bike sitting in the spare bedroom, and I want to use it for cross-training with my running. My goal is to ride it twice a week (hey, I already run 3 times a week, so this will mean I exercise FIVE TIMES A WEEK ::faints::) - and I'd like to increase the time I ride each week. Baby-stepping this, so I may only do 10 minutes the first ride - which WILL happen today.

I love the goal Shelley (cross training is so important for injury prevention and boredom prevention) and it's great the way you're being so sensible about baby-stepping. Ten minutes is an excellent way to start building the habit. It's the resistance to STARTING that is so often the problem, at least for me.

I didn't make a resolution as such. I renewed my vow to myself to live a life with as few regrets as possible. All that means is more of the same from me.Meanwhile, please don't enter me in the contest. I'm still eating my last win.The Quest peanut butter cups are pretty damned good.

I got dizzy when I tried to visualize myself a year from now, so I had to stop. My resolution is to just live each day as it comes - that assuages my anxiety... at least, for the moment. I'm going to try to blog (and read blogs) a little more consistently. Maybe.

I don't make resolutions. Haven't for years. I have been working on shedding some pounds and getting more exercise for a few months now though. It is still a bit random, but, I am getting there. I am not interested in the contest, I sometimes don't get to your posts for a week or more, so I wouldn't be much help to others.

My main goal is not a fitness related one - hope that is OK.I want to really work on living in the moment. I have a bad habit of looking ahead (or behind) and not enjoying where I am and what I'm doing. I want to make every second (well at least most of them!!) count!And, I loved the opening comic - exactly the kind of thing I do (or at least think)!

I have that same tendency Kim and living in the moment is such a challenge and a great goal! Yet it's all we got... on little moment after the next. Such a waste to let them stream by without savoring them, so fixated on what the "next" thing is.

I have some brain-washy reminder audio downloads from Eckhart Tolle about "Living in the Now," sometimes he's annoying but sometimes his advice actually sinks in. I'm probably due for some more brainwashing.

Me - I want to be able to do a real push up. Oh yeah... I have a zillion other resolutions. Some are kind of general, everyday be-a-better-person type items; others are very specific and will eventually be accompanied by lovely check marks :).

But this one, seemingly 'little' thing (for others) I would consider a crowning achievement (for me), especially if I could manage to do something each day for the next month toward that end. It will warrant a HUGE check and I may have the date etched onto a stone.....

Anyway, I started this morning by seeing how far I could lower myself in the position and hold without losing control - then pushing back up. I did this 5 times. While the elbows are bent, I know that I am nowhere near close to an actual push up, per se. And what I don't know is what constitutes a "real" push up in terms of how close my nose must be to the floor. Anyone know the answer?

Police Academies and the military and such have a guy put his fish on the floor and make your chest touch it. I think this gives an unfair advantage to the well-endowed girls :) Besides, my personal trainer says that it's safer and just as impressive to have your upper arms parallel to the floor.

As I mentioned upthread, I picked a word for the year. I am going for BALANCE. I tend to be an all or nothing person, so focusing on balance is probably smart. I will probably mostly apply it to my food choices (in terms of avoiding deprivation followed by a HUGE indulgence) but there are certainly other areas of my life where some balance and perspective would be useful!

Ooh BALANCE is a great goal to shoot for! Love the word of the year idea. Not only may you decrease stress and make healthy food choices with this notion, but it will also keep you from tipping over and falling on your butt! :)

thats a great idea to take a word and use it as kind of a headline for the year! for me though i have to make the goals smaller so i know exactly what to do and how. balance is a big topic for me too. i might break it down into little exercises and experiment with it. puja

No goal-setting or resolutions for me. It took me decades to realize that putting expectations on myself just makes me both anxiety-riddled and rebellious (I just fail on purpose to avoid the fear of failing for real).

One of the real joys of weightlifting is that it provides regular moments to feel proud about without ever demanding that you reach X place by Y date. You do 8 reps, then when that's easy do 10 reps, and when that's easy do 12, then add five pounds and go back to 8 reps, then 10 .... It's peaceful in a bad-ass kind of a way.

I suspect I'd be a very bad life coachee. But I wish the best to you all. I hear that goal-setting and accountability are really valuable for most people!

That's so cool, Trabb's Boy, that you know yourself so well! And Peaceful Bad-Ass sounds like a great combination. (Or maybe a rock band or something).

And I suspect you'd be an AWESOME coachee if you ever were exploring something new or feeling stuck or looking to make some sort of transition or something, however, it sounds like you have things pretty well figured out!

Thanks so much for hanging out with us though and offering support, it's really appreciated!

This is the first year I decided NOT to do a New Year's resolution, but instead decided to do a monthly goal for myself, so this fits in perfectly! (Though I guess you can say my New Years Resolution is to set and achieve a goal each month...) Anyway, I have 2 January goals: to log every single thing I put into my mouth and every exercise I complete and to get a better handle on my afternoon snacking.

I love the idea of monthly goals! How did it go? What's on for February?

I made a rule for myself "no candy from the candy dishes at work". In theory, I can have all the candy I want in the afternoon IF I am willing to drive to the store and get it. This works for me because I am far too lazy to get in my car and go down the road. Second part to this rule is no personal stashes of candy at my desk. So any candy craving has to be dealt with each day. ;)

That's a genius rule Theresa! It takes a bit of the rebellion out of a restriction if there IS a way to get what your impulsive side wants rather than a totally restrictive rule.

I have a similar one about trail mix, a food that which I will eat 8,000 calories worth if left to my own devices: I can only eat it when heading out the door or when it's packed in a baggie for snack for later. No eating handfuls at home.

I love resolutions, so I'm in. I want to better manage my own time, now that I am home with my son and working part time my life has so little structure that I easily get off track. I want to build a list of daily habits through the year, my first is to brush my teeth and wash may face every night(I know, don't judge). I like your idea to look at the big picture and imagine what I want my life to be like in a year.

there is someone in berlin who never washes her face before going to bed...smile....at least i dont wear make-up!i also find it hard to get my days structured if i dont work fulltime. i get much more done after work than during the days when im not working... weird but true! greetings from germany, puja

Funny that you mention meditation -- that's what i was going to try to add this year!

Usually it's not a resolution, but having the added push of people here will make me do it. When i tell people i'm going to do something, i try harder.

Julie, i get that about no structured time at home with the kids. You look up at 5pm and wonder where the day went! The structure of habits, such as brush teeth, then go get the coffee pot going, while it's goin start the washing machine... linking habits helps.

happy new year! i would like to join you. instead of resulotions i will take each weeek of the year to focus on something i would like to try out, get better at or practise. if i feel like it i can stay with the same thing for longer. i just know it has to be fun for me to stick with it. since i am still losing weight, i also want to do something nice for someone without them noticing, for every kg i lose.( its my version of 26 acts of kindness). this first week in january i am doing 30 min of bodyweight-training after work. it would be soooooo cool to win! greetings from berlin! puja

I really like the idea of 52 weekly goals. I did weekly goals with Tina Reale's Best Body Bootcamp, and I found myself shooting for much more difficult goals than I would have if I would have had to commit to them for a month. A week? I can do anything for a week! Then the week would finish, and I'd be so proud of myself for not drinking soda for a whole week or always taking the stairs, or whatever (seem small, but to me were huge) that I kept the same goals the next week just to prove I could do it again. And again. Until they became ways of life.

I'll join in with my ongoing unpacking. I just decided that I must have the main floor unpacked and organized by June if I'm going to stay sane, so I'll report in on my progress. Last night I unpacked a box of books for the first time in a week. Working seven days a week doesn't leave me much time for anything but daily maintenance.

And I don't need to win. Crabby's awesome life-coaching has long lasting results.

Wow, tackling unpacking with a 7-day workweek indeed sounds challenging but a little bit at a time sounds like a great approach! Plus, it's exercise! Looking forward to hearing updates and perhaps catching pictures on your blog Mary Anne.

(And you are a role model for handling challenging transitions with grace and resilience!)

For exercise, Crabby, wait until I get to the part where I carry concrete blocks from the basement up to the second floor (to make more bookshelves.) The stairs in this house are incredibly steep and narrow. They also have no handrails, but of course that's not going to matter while carrying concrete blocks. The blocks for the shelves I've put together on the main floor were unloaded by the movers on the same floor, and even so I got quite a workout carrying them from one place to another. I was really glad of all the weight-lifting in my past!

Hey Kimberly, glad you're playing too, and it will be great to see how you do with the meditation.

Can't wait to check out your FB page, but I'm in FB avoidance mode until I can set aside enough time to catch up a bit, perhaps over the weekend. Otherwise if I just stop in with no time I feel totally freaked out. (Acquiring Social Media Coping Skills would perhaps be a good resolution for me to add to my list.)

I'm in! I like the idea of a fresh start in the new year. I'm a big believer in resolutions. Sure, half of them go by the way side,(okay, maybe 75%, okay, maybe 90%) but some of them stick. I'm upping the ante on my workouts, 4-5x aerobics, 2 times weights, 1x yoga a week. And...a drum roll please...I am giving up Diet Cokes. 2 days down. The workout thing isn't a problem...the Diet Cokes? Hmmmm. That's a tough one. Wish me well!Gaye

I am way impressed by the Diet Coke renunciation; not quite there myself though I mostly rely on stevia-sweetened drinks. If it turns out stevia is evil too I just f--cking give up. I need SOMETHING sweet!

My resolutions is to make peace with myself. I had a rough year (or two) and allowed other peoples words and actions to effect how I see and feel about myself. I'm working on gaining some peace in my own skin. I figure if i get there other things will fall into place. Spaz

Making peace with yourself--wow, that's a really great goal and like you pointed out, so central to everything else in life falling into place. So sorry about the rough couple of years! Hope this year is a healing time and that you find lots of support and resources in rediscovering all that is positive and wonderful about yourself!

That's a terrific goal. And I think you're right, that the more you're at peace with yourself, the more you're at peace with what's around you -- whether they fall into place, or you just cope with it better, I don't know.

The best part is that it's not just a goal, but a process. You don't need to be "there" to be getting benefits.

I'm going to work on eating clean 90% of the time, and letting myself rock treats (for me, that means most processed foods and things with white flour or refined sugar) 10% of the time. Over the last year or so, I've gotten to more of a 60-40 place and it doesn't work for me. I know I feel better (physically and mentally) and train better when I eat this way, so I just need to do it.

I almost don't want to write this one down because tonight I can already feel myself struggling with it, but I would really liked to read before bed. I am that person that doesn't sleep well and so I go to bed with the TV on.

I think the compromise I will make on this month of trial is that if I still can't sleep after a little reading and attempt without TV that I can then turn it on.

I am tired pretty much all the time, and as most of us know that usually results in little mini "bad" decisions the rest of the day.

The reading with TV as backup sounds like a great way to make the transition. Since anxiety can make things worse, knowing you have a backup plan can take some of the stress out of trying something new.

And heck if you want to fall right asleep, just buy my ebook or take a wander through the archives... you'll be snoring in no time! :)

I tend to listen to the radio when I go to sleep. This past year I've gotten an iPhone, and I've recently started testing going to sleep with a nature sounds app instead. I realized that sometimes I was getting too het up listening to the radio (crazy conservatives tend to come in well at night), and while it was sort of fun, it was also maybe not restful. So far, I haven't noticed much change in my sleep quality, but I'm going to try for a while longer, since there are soooo many factors involved in sleep.

I'm with you on the nature sounds Rachel, great idea! We have a waterfall recording playing for an hour after we turn out the lights; makes a big difference in cutting out some of the little irritating noises, plus, we've accidentally trained ourselves to feel sleepy when we hear it. Hmm, I better be careful when we visit Niagra falls this summer!

I always try to make a list of New Year's resolution as a motivation for me to start the year with a good habit. Apparently, I have realized some of these last year. One of which, like many others, is to lose weight. I gave birth Dec. of 2011 and I really gained weight from a normal 100-lb. woman. I really did my best to lose weight at the start of the year 2012. It is a good thing, I am now 110 lbs.

Am so with you about group accountability meetings. Sometimes it's like being alongside a Moonie or two - not to mention the occasional BO. But in terms of a non-snarky, more meaningful comment, I am planning on doing 1800 calories per day and daily t-mill/elliptical, alternating with weights every other day. Have signed up for once a week Zumba and another tennis clinic to improve my game.

Wow, lots of great ideas for exercise, and kudo's for planning to mix it up a bit... unlike some of us who keep SAYING we're going to get some variety but keep doing the same damn things over and over. I'm still intrigued by Zumba but a bit intimidated. My hips just don't move like that!

Love this idea Crabby! I don't do resolutions anymore. I set annual and monthly goals instead. For January I want to log 50 miles running, finish reading 3 books, finish up my annual scrapbook which fell by the wayside during the holidays, and get back on Spark People documenting what I eat (I find holding myself accountable over there helps keep my snacking in check). My other goal is to get my goals written. :)

I love this idea. Since I read an article that inspired me a week ago I've resolved this year to learn one new thing, and practice it. Really put effort into it. I have yet to select what that is: learning the ukelele and wither starting yoga or taekwando are on my list at the moment. I'm giving myself a week to decide and jumping in. :)

Ooh, ukelele, yoga and taekwando sound like very cool new endeavors! And I kinda like the word "whither" so glad for the typo to remind me of it. As in, whither the hell wenteth my reading glasses? OK, so perhaps I am not exactly an expert on its usage. My archaic English skills have, um, withered.

And Joyce, as an only recently (and not entirely) reformed worrywart, I feel your pain. But if you tackle the whole Inner Peace thing with the same determination you approach your awesome fitness accomplishments, I predict you'll be kicking silly-crap-worry ass in 2013!

Don't know if you'll see this, since it's two weeks later, but I thought I'd offer my approach to worry reduction, which really works as long as I do it regularly (which I don't, because I'm not only anxious but really lazy, too).

It's basically 5 minutes or so of meditation each day, but once I'm vaguely relaxed I focus on the world being outside of me. First by listening to the sounds I hear and recognizing that I can just ignore them because they are outside. Then feeling whatever sensations I can feel on my skin -- the bed behind me, the cooler air on my hands, etc. -- and recognizing that I can ignore that, too. It's outside the core of me. Then I move on to internal sensations, with the key one being the adrenaline making my heart go a mile a minute. If I do it daily, it really does help. The adrenaline surge is still there, but I can treat it as something that is happening outside of my mind, so I don't get quite as paralyzed by it and can actually think things over calmly.

I wish you the best of luck. Let me know if you come up with something that works!

Thanks for this Trabb's Boy! Love the notion of externalizing the adrenaline/worry rather than taking it on as an identity. And not necessarily trying to "fight" it, which can only increase worry, but to accept it as something that just is. Those body visualization/meditations really do seem to help kick in the parasympathetic stuff... IF we actually make time to do it.

Thanks MK -- Love the FEAR acronym!Thanks so much for the suggestions Crabby & Trabb's Boy. I really appreciate the encouragement. Since I first posted I've made some headway. I've been making an effort to be mindful of my respond to circumstance. I've been trying to take my thoughts captive before they manifest into worry. It's almost a sort of meditation in the moment. I definitely notice a difference.

I'm dusting off an old, often reused one. I want to lose 20 to 30 lbs. But I am optimistic. And my DH, who is often my saboteur, has promised not to do that and to support my goals this year. We'll see about that. Wish me well!

I am late to this but love what you are doing & the reaching out! Many need this private or public. No resolutions here but I do have a couple goals in mind. I will keep them private as I don't like the pressure of having ti live up to something if life changes & I change with it... I will be a cheerleader tough if I can! :)

I completely understand your position, and I've been really successful in the past doing it that way. But I read this a while ago and it was food for thought for me. You might get something out of it, too. Or not...just thought I'd share.

I don't know if this counts as a resolution, or what, but ... I've been keeping a food journal on my iPhone for a while. Last night, I got the idea to "add friends." I then realized that these friends could see my specific journal entries with the settings I had. My first impulse was to scrabble to change the settings (and to delete one unfelicitous entry immediately). Then I thought ... what if. What if I left it so that at any given moment someone might read my food journal. I live alone, so no one else knows what I eat most of the time. What would my decisions be like if I thought someone might. I think I'll give it a shot. Not to try to show anyone else, but to (hopefully) add another element of reflection and perspective.

Wow, what an intriguing experiment! Sounds like the idea that someone else COULD see what you've entered might help activate that observer part of your own mind to create a bit more mindfulness about choices.

I have never been a resolutions person, but for 2012 I set several goals. Results were...mixed. Ahem. However, during the year I read two things that resonated with me: Charles Duhigg's book on habits, and a post on No Meat Athlete about focusing on one thing a month and making it a habit. So: This year I'm going to try one thing at a time. One goal a month. This month is getting back to brushing and flossing twice every day. I've always been fine with mornings...my am routine is totally robotic. But my pm routine, well, isn't a routine. So I'm trying to build in brush, floss, mouthwash using a trigger that I won't forget. I started on 12/31 (yeah, overachiever) and so far so good. I may start tracking again using Joe's Goals, which helped me with some stuff last year.

I have lots of things I might focus on for future months. I'm going to make decisions as I go. The hope is that whatever I decide on at the time will be more meaningful in the moment than something I might have picked ages ago.

essbee (Anonymous is the only comment methodology that seems to work. Phoo.)

One goal a month sounds like an excellent plan, essbee! And I have to confess that I'm great about brushing flossing etc once a day but kinda sketchy on twice myself, so I may have to steal your goal at some point.

And thanks for all the resource suggestions, a lot of folks will appreciate that!

Will see if I can get some advice on the no iPad commenting other than anonymous. Just curious, if you happen to see this: do you have a gmail account or are you with another email account? The Evil Google Empire seems to discriminate at times.

I don't do New Year's Resolutions and I don't really have a specific goal for the year. I have some things I want to work on, but they don't feel quantifiable enough to call them goals. I think this is a great idea though, and I look forward to reading along. :)

Hey JavaChick, seems like you always have lots going on in the Healthy Living department; maybe you're beyond quantifiable goals and just keeping things going is all you need rather than temporary resolution type things. Thanks for stopping by!!!!

My goal for 2013 is to complete a half marathon. I have been a long distance walker for several years, but now I'm making the transition to runner. I will have to shave about 45 minutes off of my currently projected finish time to get across the finish line before the race closes, so I have lots of work ahead of me. And I can't wait!

That transition from walking to running is challenging, isn't it? But what a motivating way to take that on, by shooting for a half marathon that incorporates running in order to finish soon enough. Very clever motivational device, good luck!

Five days a week is a great ambitious goal! If you've already been doing close to that, awesome! And if you're starting fresh, don't get discouraged if it takes a while to get in the rhythm of going so often, ever little bit helps!